Ann Coulter’s Dangerous Gamble

Honestly, I thought that American conservatism had taken leave of its senses when Ann Coulter blurted out that she would vote for Hillary Clinton over John McCain.

The truth is, she and other conservatives are working under grievously false assumptions:

She assumes that Hillary would direct the force of anti-terrorism against Islamicist groups. But liberals lump "fundamentalists" into one group, which means that she would doubtless take the opportunity to launch a kulturkampf against anyone who seriously believed in God. George Bush passed up the opportunity to do the opposite, as I noted a long time ago in Levelling the Playing Field. Like Kuan Yü in the Chinese classic Three Kingdoms, Bush did the honourable thing and allowed the Tsao-Tsao’s of the left to take a pass, thus ending the right’s last chance to "finish the job." When the tables were turned and Tsao-Tsao captured Kuan Yü, Tsao-Tsao finished the job by beheading Kuan Yü. In like manner Hillary, a Tsao-Tsao kind of person if there ever was one, would not reciprocate Bush’s kindness.

From that, it’s a fair certainty that Hillary would initiate some kind of criminal proceedings–national or international–against George Bush and his associates. That would be a sop to the Daily Kos base of the Democrat party, to say nothing of a good publicity diversion.

For those of you who think that the first two are unrealistic, the Clintons’ record shows that they have no problem using the IRS and other police agencies of the government to punish political enemies. That, conservatives, means you. Is that what you want?

Conservatives are generally banking that a Democrat victory in 2008 would lead to a repeat of 1980 or 1994, where conservatives either took the White House (Reagan) or Congress. But America has changed since then; conservatism just doesn’t have the appeal it used to, as I discussed in Mike Huckabee and the Dilemma of American Conservatives. That kind of turnaround also assumes that the Democrat in the White House is weak (Carter) or unprepared for reversal (Clinton.) Since the latter was in the White House during the last debacle, it’s safe to assume that she has learned from her mistakes. Or at least would try to. And, of course, if the first three points work for Hillary Clinton, this one will be impossible.

Conservatives, like most Americans, go on blissfully thinking that things will always work the way they have in the U.S. But that kind of thinking led to our difficulties in Iraq. With dollar hegemony in danger and a debt-laden financial system desperate for relief, anything can happen. It’s time to think outside the box.